GEESE AND GANDERS. 38? 



protection; and in the second year he thus actually 

 chaperoned twenty-five. It should be added, that there 

 was no nest of any kind whatever within the precincts 

 which he so strenuously guarded. 



But if, in this case, we may smile at the old Gander's 

 fancy and credulity, in believing eggs to be hatching 

 where none were laid, we can quote another, showing 

 that a Goose is occasionally possessed of a keen sense, 

 enabling her to detect imposition, and distinguish her 

 own eggs from others closely resembling them. A 

 Goose, belonging to a clergyman in Cheshire, was set (as 

 it is termed) on six or eight eggs. The dairy-maid, 

 thinking these too few for so large a bird to cover, added 

 an equal number of Duck eggs. The next morning she 

 went as usual to see if all was right, when, to her great 

 surprise, she found the Goose quiet on her nest, but 

 every one of the Duck eggs picked out, and lying on the 

 ground. Her mistress directed her to replace them, 

 which was accordingly done ; but the next morning, on 

 going again to examine the nest, she found all the Duck 

 eggs, as before, moved off, and lying round about the 

 nest ; the Goose eggs remaining under the sitting bird 

 in perfect order. How long she would have persevered 

 in removing them is not known, as, for fear of driving 

 the Goose from her nest, the experiment was not re- 

 peated. 



When once attached to each other, they appear to 

 be very constant ; in proof of which, a person having 

 marked five separate Ganders, and five separate Geese, 

 with which they had paired, found that, for three suc- 

 cessive years, when he attended to them, each regularly 

 selected his companion of the former year, and conti- 

 nued faithful to her. Why the Goose has been so gene- 

 rally pointed out, proverbially, as the most foolish of 

 birds, it is difficult to say ; for the above, as well as the 

 following instances, would lead us to believe that they 

 are endowed with a larger, rather than a less, portion of 

 sense, than other birds. 



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